Quake leaves residents rattled

• Published date: 02 December 2022

The 5.6 magnitude quake struck about 20km southwest of Taupō shortly before midnight on Wednesday, at a depth of 5km

More than 5000 people reported feeling the quake on Geonet.

Oruanui resident Beth, in her 70s, told Newstalk ZB: “Never felt anything like it before.

“Things fell down and next thing I could hear water.

“It shook the hot boiler so violently it’s ruptured all the pipes at the top. Water was spraying all over the floor down and through the carpet.

“First thing I did was dive into the room and get my grandson — he looked quite frightened.

“And then I ran outside in the dark to turn the water off.”

Taupō resident Karen felt the quake.

She, her family and their newborn baby got “shaken up pretty badly”.

“We’ve been through the big quake in Whakatāne years ago and this was not nice.

“It was a complete reminder of what we went through back then.”

Taupō resident Stacey Fox, whose house is on a hill, said it shook all night; breaking glass and spilling books and cans from the pantry onto the floor.

CCTV security footage showed the moment the quake hit at the Asian Sari-sari store.

Just after 11.48pm, items on the shelves began to shake, before some fall to the ground.

Dozens of aftershocks By 5.23am, there had been at least 29 aftershocks.

The biggest was reported at 12.40am as a 4.5 magnitude shake at a depth of 5km about 20km southwest of Taupō.

Those who felt the quake also took to social media to share their experiences.

On the GeoNet Facebook page, Taupō local Brittany Rose said: “Was that a good one. Still rumbling here for [the] past hour and hasn’t stopped.”

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